Meet an Oregon Farmer

Meet Keith Nantz of Dillon Land & Cattle Co.

Oregon’s Best Contests

Oregon’s Best Contests bring a dash of fun to Oregon County Fairs and the Oregon State Fair. Sponsored by local businesses and agricultural organizations, these contests range from baking bread challenges to watermelon seed spitting competitions and much much more!

Bob's Best Home Baked Bread Contest

Every great baker knows that great bread starts with superb ingredients. Last summer, at county fairs and the Oregon State Fair, Oregonians baked their way to fame in Oregon’s Best Contests, using Bob’s Red Mill flours, cereals and grains.

Legendary miller Bob Moore uses century-old French buhr millstones to mill his flours in a time-honored method that keeps all the flavor and nutrition intact.

2010 Dairy Farmers

Last summer at county fairs and the Oregon State Fair, Oregonians used their culinary imaginations in the Delicious, Nutritious Summer Cheese Recipe Challenge, an Oregon’s Best Contest sponsored by the Dairy Farmers of Oregon

Entrants were asked to create an original snack, salad, main dishes, side dishes and desserts that used a special blend of ingredients, and one or more of the delicious tasting cheeses produced in Oregon from the milk of Oregon dairy cows.

Oregon’s dairy industry began 170 years ago with the settlement of the Oregon Country. Today it is composed of some 320 dairy farm families and 20 dairy processors who, with the help of 120,000 dairy cows, produce top-quality milk and award-winning cheeses and other dairy products. The industry has responded to consumer needs and wishes by consistently providing an increasingly diverse line of dairy products. Nearly 60 percent of the state’s milk is sold as fluid; the remaining 40 percents goes into cheese, yogurt, sour cream, ice cream, butter and other cultured products. Dry milk and dry whey are also produced from Oregon milk.

2011 Hermiston Watermelon Seed Spitting

At county fairs and the Oregon State Fair, Oregonians spit their way to fame during the Hermiston Watermelon Growers’ annual watermelon seed spitting contests.

Hermiston, Oregon watermelons are the quintessential summertime treat. More than 600 acres of watermelons are harvested every summer from the fertile high desert of Eastern Oregon. The climate of warm days and cool nights combine to produce the highest sugar content and best tasting watermelons available anywhere.

The Hermiston Watermelon Association of Growers has more than 200 years of combined experience in growing watermelons. Hermiston Watermelons are harvested the first part of July and shipped to your hometown the same day to insure you always have the freshest watermelon. So look for the Hermiston Watermelon sticker and ask for them by name at your local grocer.

STATE FAIR WINNERS

Children (ages 7 and under)

1st Place: Micah Domes, 14’ 7”

2nd Place: Ben Wines, 10‘ 11”

3rd Place: Gumi Vargas, 9’ 5”

Youth (8-15)

1st Place: Teil Wines, 17’ 7”

2nd Place: Abigail Knoch, 17’ 1”

3rd Place: Jack Martinis, 16’ 3”

Women

1st Place: Liz Matlock, 25’ 9”

2nd Place: Liz Ohling, 21’ 9”

3rd Place: Laura Todd, 20’ 1”

Men

1st Place: Tom Randall, 28’ 9”

2nd Place: Bill Durig, 28’ 6”

3rd Place: Mike Thorne, 27’ 8”

COUNTY FAIR WINNERS: Baker County – Halfway

Children (ages 7 and under)

1st Place: Cash Rubelt, 8’ 8”

2nd Place: Madeline Drees, 5’ 6”

Youth (8-15)

1st Place: Robby McCutchen, 27’ 8”

2nd Place: Micah Gotzman, 24’ 3”

3rd Place: Jared Keeton, 22’

Women

1st Place: Jaimie Butler, 25’ 5”

2nd Place: Elise Terjeson, 23’

3rd Place: Devry McNeal, 33’

Men

1st Place: Jay Stammel, 37’ 10”

2nd Place: Peter Vaher, 36’ 5”

3rd Place: Butch Caward, 33’ 3”

Columbia County

Children (ages 7 and under)

1st Place: Lauren Ely, 116”

2nd Place: Joshua Robinson, 82 ½”

3rd Place: Kyrielle White, 32”

Youth (8-15)

1st Place: Nick Johnson, 318”

2nd Place: Weston Spang, 201”

3rd Place: Mike Pingel, 198”

Women

1st Place: Jami Moore, 315”

2nd Place: Rose Robisoa, 249”

3rd Place: Sandy Ely, 240”

Men

1st Place: Jimmy Robinson, 324”

2nd Place: Jeff Ely, 279”

3rd Place: Joe Strandjord, 260”

Grant County

Children (ages 7 and under)

1st Place: Sofie Brockway, 22’ 2 ¾”

2nd Place: Bladen Burril, 19’ 4 1/2”

3rd Place: Logan Namitz, 16’ 7”

Youth (8-15)

1st Place: Wade Cates, 37’ 2 ½”

2nd Place: Dustin Wright, 28’ 8”

3rd Place: Andrew Hensley, 24’ 7 ¾”

Women

1st Place: Cheryl Martin, 8’7”

Men

1st Place: Thadd Thompson, 38’ 8 ½”

2nd Place: Lorin Hodge, 34’ 8”

3rd Place: Zane Mullin, 27’ 2 ¼”

Malheur County

Children (ages 7 and under)

1st Place: Mattie Siddoway, 11’ 8”

2nd Place: Luke Anderson, 7’ 3”

3rd Place: Tawny Svilter, 6’ 4”

Youth (8-15)

1st Place: David Garner, 26’ 9”2 ½”

2nd Place: Gabriel Gonzalez, 23’ 2”

3rd Place: Blake Cleaver, 23’

Women

1st Place: Elynn Mizuta , 24’ 6”

2nd Place: Tammy Petterson, 23’ 9”

3rd Place: Lynette Anderson, 23’

Men

1st Place: Chance Blackburn, 39’ 4”

2nd Place: Stan Cox, 38’ 10”

3rd Place: Conner Hiatt, 25’ 2”

Morrow County

Children (ages 7 and under)

1st Place: Ryan Mendell, 10’ 5”

2nd Place: Danny Shipley, 10’ 2”

3rd Place: Hunter Dyer, 9’ 10”

Youth (8-15)

1st Place: Blake Davis, 20’ 1”

2nd Place: Cara Arbogost, 16’ 3”

3rd Place: Anthony Rodelo, 15’ 9”

Women

1st Place: Ashli Gould, 14’ 1”

2nd Place: Shyla Heard, 12’ 9”

Men

1st Place: Dale Bates, 25’ 7”

2nd Place: Paul Keefer, 25’5”

3rd Place: Drion Donner &
David Bradley, 24’ 10”

Polk County

Children (ages 7 and under)

1st Place: Noah Woodward, 10’ 9”

2nd Place: Josh Peters, 7’6”

3rd Place: Rebecca Stevens, 7’5”

Youth (8-15)

1st Place: Harry Whitwerdakes, 21’ 10”

2nd Place: Brianna, 17’ 10”

3rd Place: Marriah, 15’ 7”

Women

1st Place: Teresa Byrd, 22’ 4”

2nd Place: Debbie, 19’ 2”

3rd Place: Jennifer Mullins, 14’

Men

1st Place: Edwin Villdos, 21’ 5”

2nd Place: Eric Setniker, 19’2”

3rd Place: Josh Perry, 15’ 1”

Umatilla County

Children (ages 7 and under)

1st Place: Natalie Cothren, 13’ 3”

2nd Place: Carlos Lara, 10’ 10”

3rd Place: Makena Dammeyer, 6’ 5”

Youth (8-15)

1st Place: Chris Moore, 27’ 7”

2nd Place: Josiah Barron, 27’ 4”

3rd Place: Patrick Myers, 27’

Women

1st Place: Diana Howland, 34’4”

2nd Place: Macaria Medrano, 30’ 4”

3rd Place: Trisha Miller , 25’ 9”

Men

1st Place: James Anderson, 24’ 5”

2nd Place: Brian Andrews, 14’ 1”

3rd Place: Dale Ternes, 13’ 11”

2011 NORPAC Down Home Favorite’s Recipe Contest

We recall the aroma and taste of recipes that are special to each of us, passed down from generation to generation. We learned how to prepare these “down home” dishes from our families and friends. Sometimes the recipes are hard to capture – a little bit of this, a splash of that.

Last summer at county fairs and the Oregon State Fair, Oregonians conjured up their memories of their special comfort foods, and prepared them using the fresh taste of FLAV•R•PAC and Santiam products. Entrants in the Down Home Favorite Recipe Contest were judged on flavor, texture, appearance and creativity.

Santiam canned products and FLAV•R•PAC frozen vegetables, berries, fruits and juices are lines of premium quality products produced by the Stayton-based NORPAC Foods. The 80-year-old cooperative is owned by 240 farm families who grow 27 different crops on more than 45,000 acres in the Willamette Valley. Facilities include five state-of-the-art processing plants in Stayton, Brooks, Salem and Hermiston. Products are distributed through food service and retail marketplaces throughout the U.S. and internationally. For information on NORPAC’s seed-totable quality controlled products, visit www.norpac.com.

2011 Finest Blackberry Pie Contest

Admired for their unique and complex flavor profile, blackberries have an essence that captures the warmth of a summer day in the great Northwest. Their vibrant purple color packs a powerful nutritional punch that catapults blackberries to the top of the antioxidant charts. Blackberries present an explosion of flavor and well-being that is larger than life.